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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9781585670215
ISBN number: 1585670219
Label: Overlook TP
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: March 01, 2000
Publishing house: Overlook TP
Release Date: March 01, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 167151
Studio: Overlook TP
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Rated by buyers 
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Loved this book! Truly funny rendition of a well-meaning simpleton who brings a crazy religion to America. Great characters and even better descriptions of outrageous religious garb.
Rated by buyers 
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I read "True Grit" with great pleasure, and after reading all of the five-star reviews of "Masters of Atlantis", I could not wait to get my hands on it. Well, I should have waited.
The only word that comes to mind for "Masters" is silly. The characters are not even slightly believable, and the situations are too farcical to be good satire.
The two-star rating I give it is very liberal, based on a few clever insights by the author. On the whole, however, I think a general reader would have to have an odd taste in books to find this one appealing.
Rated by buyers -
The predilection of humans to involve themselves in cults is a perplexing topic that requires years of study and stacks of dictionary-sized psychology books in order to understand.
Or...
...you can just read Masters of Atlantis then move on to your degree. Charles Portis continues to hold me in awe with his deadpan comic genius. His silly plots read humorously on the surface, and move at a good clip, but suddenly one realizes that there is so very, very much more going on.
Where do cults come from and why do (presumably) rational people involve themselves in the nutty things? Portis' take on the topic spells it out in plain humor: an accidental encounter, an impressionable young man, the hangers on, the manipulators, and, gasp, the true believer who spawns a whole philosophy derived from the antics of a con man. Strangely enough, he begins to discern subtle truths about the nature of the universe. When the government gets involved things get sillier yet, but don't just write this off as fiction, we've all seen Congressional hearings; Charles Poris has got their number.
Line your Charles Portis books up subsequent to your Kurt Vonnegut-they make great companions.
Rated by buyers -
I know the term 'best ever' is thrown out there too often and is in most cases downright cliche. But with this book, funniest book ever is an understatement. If you're a fan of deadpan, dry humour with witty dialouge and eccentric characters this book is for you. The very first 50 pages are a bit slow in setting up the rest of the story, but from then on I was hanging on every sentence, not wanting it to end.
The character of Austin Popper is one of the most eccentric, off the wall, and laugh out loud characters ever written.
Let me put in the analogy of a movie. If you liked 'Royal Tennenbaums', this book is right up your alley. It has that kind of dry, acidic wit and tongue in cheek humor. If you're more of an 'American Pie' kind of person, you may be left scratching your head and wondering what the hell just happened.
Rated by buyers -
this book is one of my favorites ever. i just love how portis's accounting is so detached and even-handed, while what and whom he writes about are so absurd and pathetic.
because portis doesn't try to write funny, the reader can absorb the outrageousness situations and dialogs in pure form. and those situations and dialogs are a riot.
small caveat:
while a lot of events happen, these characters never really grow or learn from the disasters they leave in their wake. there's no redemption or closure. although it spans decades, this book truly goes nowhere. if you can't handle that, you won't like masters of atlantis.
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